Travis Head has seen enough. Four Tests, a handful of starts, one eye-catching 72 and a few quirky dismissals have convinced him that Jake Weatherald can live at the top level, even if the numbers do not yet sparkle.
“I think he’s a good enough cricketer for international cricket,” Head said on Sunday. “I think he showed a lot of glimpses over his first four Tests, and it’s not always going to go your way. I think there’s a lot of guys that have looked like they’ve been on the pump with the bat who are some of the best in our generation. So it can be tough way to start your international career. But look, I think he’s a good enough player to play international cricket.”
Weatherald, 31, earned his baggy green in Perth after a dominant 18-month stretch for Tasmania and Australia A. Since then he has strung together scores of 0, 23, 72, 17*, 18, 1, 10 and 5 – an average of 20.85 that reads harsher than it feels to anyone who has actually watched the innings. In five of eight visits he has looked assured early, only to falter once set.
The modes of dismissal have been, well, varied. Three lbws to full, straight rockets stand out – one of them pitching outside leg, a fact Weatherald opted against reviewing despite Head’s arm-waving from the non-striker’s end. Two more exits came from short balls into the ribs that ballooned off the splice. In Melbourne a glanced half-volley down the leg-side brushed the edge; second time around he shouldered arms to Ben Stokes and lost his off-stump to a delivery that jagged sharply off a lively MCG surface.
Given 36 wickets tumbled in two days on that pitch, it was hard to call the leave an error, more an occupational hazard for an opener.
Head, who has shared the crease with Weatherald in seven of eight digs – including a pair of fifty partnerships – keeps coming back to the 72 in Brisbane. “I felt like he set the ball up really well,” he said. “The runs haven’t been there in the last couple of Tests, but he played a crucial innings for us in Brisbane. So over a series, looking for moments in time that could win you a series and he was able to do that in Brisbane.”
The left-hander’s own move to the top has drawn most headlines. A player-of-the-series award in the 2021-22 Ashes had come from No.5; this time he has supplied the vital early ballast. Usman Khawaja was the only Australian opener to reach three figures in the preceding 14 Tests, and even he slipped out of form, prompting shuffling.
If Weatherald doesn’t cash in at Sydney, the usual chatter about the opening slot will re-emerge. Selectors have Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw logging runs at domestic level, while Cameron Bancroft’s name never drifts far from the conversation. Yet weather, pitches and the small sample size argue for patience.
Weatherald himself has said little in public – a brief “I’m learning quickly and enjoying the challenge” after the MCG defeat – but insiders point to the calm he shows between dismissals. A technique built on stillness and strong hands at point of contact remains intact; ironing out new-ball judgement is the next step, hardly unusual for a debut series.
In short, the evidence is mixed but promising. An opener standing tall in Brisbane, undone by fine bowling and a couple of avoidable lapses thereafter, still holds more upside than risk. Head, now a senior pro, sees it that way. Australia, one win from regaining the urn outright, probably do as well.
There will be fresh grass and a hint of turn at the SCG, if recent seasons are a guide. Weatherald needs neither to dominate nor to fluke a century. A sturdy 60, built over two hours, would quieten the debate. Fail again and the panel has decisions to make. That, as Head reminded us, is simply how Test cricket works.
